


As Their Protectors Do

by petersfeather



Series: Found Family [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: ??? - Freeform, Angst, Billy Hargrove Needs Love, Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy Hopper - Freeform, Billy gets adopted, Billy is just thinking of bad things, Dad Hopper, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, kinda sorta, mentions of abuse, very briefly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 17:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21324172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/petersfeather/pseuds/petersfeather
Summary: "okay how about hopper being really fed up with Billy’s bratty behavior and maybe yelling at him and maybe overreacting and acting a little aggressively and billy saying sorry sir and hopper realizing he messed up and quickly try’s to comfort billy"~~~“Maybe you’ll hafta put medown.” Billy barks as he reaches his hands out and shoves, too weak in his real drunken state to really do much damage because he’s tripping over himself but Hopper islividright now.So much so that he grabs a hold of Billy’s collar and spins him around and pushes him against the wall and puts a large, authoritative finger in his face andglaresdown at him and-And…Billy’s eyes are wide with fear.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Jim "Chief" Hopper
Series: Found Family [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1534922
Comments: 9
Kudos: 273





	As Their Protectors Do

**Author's Note:**

> Hello sweet dears!
> 
> **PREFACE:** This series is full of a bunch of asks from my blog @okaybutlikeimagine where lots of lovely and gorgeous people have decided they like my writing enough to ask me to write things! So these works are going to be pretty casual and pretty random! (I'm trying to take out the shorthand but I might miss some). I might also add some content/polish some stuff up on here. So just be aware of that! **These are not full blown fics**, these are ficlets at best, but really they're just responses to asks on Tumblr. I was asked to post these all in one place here on AO3 for following and bookmarking reasons, which is why I'm doing this! **If you're JUST here to read full blown fics and not little ficlets like this, then sorry but this might not be for you!**
> 
> I was debating putting this with the first one I posted but then I didn't for whatever reason. Lemme know if it'd make more sense to put it as a chapter of the first one...???? (I'm feeling this out.)(I should be doing homework woops)
> 
> Prompt is in the summary! ~♥
> 
> (Title from Low Life - Naked Eyes)

Hop is definitely not a stranger to getting a hand on someone (re: everyone who dares cross him in all 3 seasons)(Jim “I’ll Punch Your Lights Out” Hopper) nor is he a stranger to getting a hand on a kid (re: S2 when Mike shoves him and Hop grabs Mike’s collar and gets all intimidating)

And I don’t believe for a second Hop would ever in his life harm a minor/someone so much younger than him, but I most definitely think that he’s seen So Much Shit and is under so much pressure so often now with fuckin MONSTERS terrorizing his town that he gets a real short temper and just? Loses his head sometimes. A little tough love…? He never means to actually _harm_ anyone.

So that means when Billy comes home dangerously drunk, after a long week of being a little shit on and off, and after a _long long_ day for Hop, things don’t go over too well. Hop thinks it’s a good thing El is out with Max because he’s _pissed._

Billy’s eyebrows are furrowed a bit, but otherwise he’s clumsy and stupid and cracking jokes about Hopper’s weight and his mustache and the “horrible curtains on the windows”.

Hopper does his best to ignore it because what he’s _really_ pissed about is that the kid keeps throwing his life into danger by driving drunk. And then he’s even MORE pissed off that Billy gets so bitchy about saying “someone else actually drove me home tonight, old man.”

And not only that, but Billy is pulling that weird, casually destructive shit (re: S2 where he’s legit just pulling down the “decorations” at that Halloween party) and is messing with the house with no thought to it. He’s watching his own boots scuff the floor over and over, making nonsensical patterns because he’s fascinated by it. He casually pulls out a bunch of stuffing out of the pillows on the couch. He picks at the peeling paint on the wall even as he’s being yelled at to stop.

And Hopper is _boiling_, words not getting through, when he yells:

“Holy shit, kid, can’t you quit acting like a feral dog and just _sit down?_”

Billy turns angry eyes onto him.

“Well sorry _Chief_, but last time I checked this _wasn’t my house._”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means I’m a dog and this is the pound, right?”

Hopper rubs a large hand down his face in exhaustion.

“Can you _please_ just-?”

“And no one’s coming to adopt me, huh?” There's a bubble in his throat, Hop can hear it. He looks up to Billy and thinks his eyes are too shiny.

“_I_ adopted you.”

Billy’s not listening, swaying as he walks towards Hopper.

“Maybe you’ll hafta put me _down._” Billy barks as he reaches his hands out and shoves, too weak in his real drunken state to really do much damage because he’s tripping over himself but Hopper is _livid_ right now.

So much so that he grabs a hold of Billy’s collar and spins him around and pushes him against the wall and puts a large, authoritative finger in his face and _glares_ down at him and-

And…

Billy’s eyes are wide with fear. He’s staring up at Hop and that snarl is gone. He’s shocked, shaking like a leaf.

Billy has never, in all the time that Hop has known him, looked so... _small_.

He's reverted back into a kid. He's a child in Hop's grip. A small, frightened child who's seen way too much in too few years on this earth. There's pain burning vibrantly in his eyes.

And in a split second Billy drops his head, tilts his cheek up and to the side a bit, breathes fast, eyes screwed shut.

“_Sorry sir._” He says under his breath and looks like he’s waiting for something.

_Waiting to be… holy shit he’s waiting to be hit. Waiting to be put down._

“_Fucking…_” Hopper mumbles under his breath as he backs away, looking at his hands like he’s expecting blood on them or something.

_How could I…? When I know…?_

He looks up at Billy then, who’s hard eyes have shifted up to to look at Hopper, but the surprise is still there, eyebrows twitching a bit.

Billy stands up straight, fixes his shirt a bit, and mumbles just loud enough for Hop to hear: “All done, Chief?”

“Billy, I’m-”

“Don’t lose sleep over it.” He’s still picking at the hem of his shirt like there's something there. Hop would say it's an uncharacteristically nervous gesture, but he's watched this boy live in this cabin for a while now. He has a _lot_ of nervous gestures.

“Billy I’m _serious-_”

“_So am I._” Billy mumbles, voice sounding weak. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

“C’mon son.” Hopper starts walking towards him and Billy flinches at the sound of the boots on the ground. Hopper reaches out, placing a hand on one of his shoulders as gently as he possibly can. “I… I would _never_ hurt you. I swear.”

“Right. Everyone swears.”

Hopper’s heart is in his stomach. But Billy won’t move. He’s not trying to leave, he’s not trying to skirt around Hopper to get to bed, he’s leaning up against the wall and staring at his boots and swaying a bit.

Hopper guides him gently to the couch, goes to make some hot chocolate because Billy loves the stuff, and sits heavily next to the boy when both mugs are ready.

And they sit. In virtual silence. Like Billy is a scared cat in a new home and Hopper is trying to gain his trust; trying to prove he’s safe here. He puts on a couple records because music calms Billy down. They talk a little bit, but Hop _really_ doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’ll have to ask Joyce…

And by the end of his second cup of cocoa, Billy’s asleep on Hop’s shoulder, drooling and snoring slightly, and Hopper makes a vow to never ever ever let anyone put an aggressive hand on this kid again. And maybe it’s a silly vow to make- the boy is a firecracker of boiling emotions, there's always going to be someone looking to hit him with all of his anger -but Hopper just sees a kid who needed a strong hug instead of a harsh hand and if he can make this boy feel comfortable in this home with this little broken family they have now… then Hopper is the happiest man in Hawkins.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sad and crying! You can find this post [right here on my blog.](https://okaybutlikeimagine.tumblr.com/post/187308409523/okay-how-about-hopper-being-really-fed-up-with) Just in case you wanted to see what the original post was.
> 
> You can also come yell at me at my blog [@okaybutlikeimagine](https://okaybutlikeimagine.tumblr.com/)! I'm in school rn so posts are VERY slow and very spaced out, but you can still come yell at me if you want/read the rest of my silly writings!
> 
> You can also find me at [@pointeful](https://pointeful.tumblr.com/) if you wanna come see me be a loser!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and I adore your soul ~♥


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